{"id":295698,"date":"2026-09-28T18:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/295698\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T18:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:16:14","slug":"philadelphias-hawthorne-neighborhood-block-by-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/295698\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia’s Hawthorne neighborhood, block by block"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends.\u00a0Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spanning 11th to Broad streets and South Street to Washington Avenue, Hawthorne has no single corridor or landmark \u2014 its identity settles in smaller places: a table left unwatched, brimming with plants and trinkets; a folding table of hand-carved wood; a coffee shop with scents reminiscent of Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n

Rooted on the curb<\/p>\n

Most days, all passersby see is a folding table by the curb: a shallow tank of goldfish available to adopt, trays of propagated houseplant cuttings and a QR code for Venmo \u2014 pay what you can. The garage behind it usually stays shut. <\/p>\n

On a Saturday, the garage door was up, revealing a denser version of the same instinct: terrariums, birdcages, driftwood, an array of Buddha statues and jars of sea glass catching the afternoon light. Out front, the garage\u2019s owner, Andy Dinh, chatted with a neighbor from the house behind his, her dog tucked in her arms.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dinh in his garage workshop, surrounded by terrariums, plants, and collected altars that make up his open-air plant sanctuary. (Photo by Hanbit Kwon \/ for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

Dinh has lived on the block 25 years and calls the collection simply a hobby that got away from him. \u201cI don\u2019t have any online presence,\u201d he said of his collection. \u201cI just come down here and hang out.\u201d He\u2019s watched this stretch of South 11th Street go from rows of abandoned houses to one of South Philly\u2019s most densely gardened corners \u2014 a turnaround that he calls, without hesitation, \u201ca good thing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that visible greening rests on a deeper bedrock. The neighborhood\u2019s turnaround was driven by HOPE VI redevelopment and city eminent domain seizures that displaced long-standing families, erasing intergenerational homes and replacing roughly 550 public housing units with just 245 new units. For newer arrivals, the quiet street feels like an organic rebirth; for those removed during the urban overhaul, the loss remains a lingering wound<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dinh has since added a free plant library and a golden rain tree he spent years getting city approval to plant. Its lantern-shaped seed pods drop seed each year for the next round of cuttings. \u201cThere\u2019s some small thefts,\u201d he said of the unwatched table, \u201cbut it\u2019s the honor system.\u201d Raised Buddhist in Vietnam, he said the block\u2019s mix \u2014 Italian, Mexican, Vietnamese, blue collar and increasingly affluent \u2014 is \u201creal. It\u2019s organic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Dinh chats with a neighbor holding her dog outside his open garage on a Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Hanbit Kwon \/ for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

A table on the boundary<\/p>\n

A few blocks north, Lancelot Radcliffe \u2014 Lance, to regulars \u2014 has sold hand-carved wooden sculptures from a folding table for decades, as long a tenure as Dinh\u2019s. \u201cI try to be as cordial as I can be,\u201d he said of the people who pass, kids especially, some of whom he\u2019s watched grow up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Lancelot Radcliffe at his table on South Street, where he has carved and sold wooden sculptures for decades. (Photo by Hanbit Kwon \/ for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

\u200bAsked how the neighborhood\u2019s changed, Lance didn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cFrom a little bit bad to better.\u201d Car windows used to turn up smashed some mornings; not anymore, he said, tracing the shift to a wave of longtime troublemakers who \u201ceither go to jail, or maybe they die\u201d and, either way, aren\u2019t around now. He supports himself entirely on what people choose to pay \u2014 $2, sometimes $10 \u2014 for work he says draws on his own family background.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200bLance\u2019s corner, on South Street between 11th and 12th \u2014 where the corridor\u2019s constant foot traffic and ambient noise press right against Hawthorne\u2019s quiet residential boundary \u2014 carries history he never mentioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A state historical marker there commemorates the Standard Theatre, once owned by John T. Gibson \u2014 Philadelphia\u2019s wealthiest Black entrepreneur in the 1920s \u2014 which hosted Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith before closing in 1931. Today, the marker shares its block with one of Isaiah Zagar\u2019s mosaic murals<\/a>, the same folk-art tradition behind South Street\u2019s Magic Gardens<\/a> a few blocks east. A Jazz Age landmark, a mosaic mural and Lance\u2019s table all share the same stretch of sidewalk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Guzo owner Wubet Negash inside her Ethiopian caf\u00e9, which doubles as an informal third place for neighborhood students. (Photo by Hanbit Kwon \/ for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

A porch for the public<\/p>\n

On Catharine and South 12th streets, toward Bella Vista, Guzo is a small Ethiopian caf\u00e9<\/a> whose name means \u201cjourney.\u201d Owner Wubet Negash opened it to bring a piece of Ethiopia to her adopted neighborhood, now heading into her third year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community is very supportive,\u201d she said, describing regulars from a nearby afterschool program who treat the caf\u00e9 as a third place \u2014 charging phones, waiting for the bus, doing homework between classes at Palumbo High School down the block. She\u2019d braced for the students to be her biggest challenge; instead, \u201cthat became my least.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local art rotates on Guzo\u2019s walls every three months, sold with zero commission, student work from Palumbo hanging alongside adults\u2019. Negash pours a traditional coffee ceremony most weekends with a clay jebena and sini cups, kolo served alongside as a gesture of welcome. Her signature dish, gluten-free injera made from teff, is often prepared by her mother: \u201cI won\u2019t purchase it at a store,\u201d Negash said. \u201cI just don\u2019t want contamination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her one real friction point isn\u2019t the neighborhood \u2014 it\u2019s the city. She\u2019s been repeatedly ticketed over outdoor seating<\/a> she believes was cleared during zoning, seating she says functions as a safety measure for students waiting on parents or buses. \u201cI\u2019m not sure why [the city\u2019s] not getting back to us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hand-printed shirts and carved artwork line the chain-link fence behind Lance\u2019s table near 11th and South. (Photo by Hanbit Kwon \/ for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc8c Love Philly? Sign up for the free Billy Penn daily newsletter and stay in the know<\/p>\n

Over the imploded footprint<\/p>\n

The green space lending this piece its name sits at 12th and Catharine, its physical ground mirroring Hawthorne\u2019s complex history. Hawthorne Park occupies the footprint of the former Martin Luther King Jr. towers, imploded in 1999<\/a>. Built by the city and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society as part of the HOPE VI redevelopment, the half-block park offers shade trees and an open lawn that doubles as an informal neighborhood amphitheater.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200bA short walk away, that concentration of public space expands around Ridgway Park, where the Hawthorne Cultural Center and Carpenter Studio form a tight cluster where green space, youth programming, and neighborhood art-making sit within a block of each other.<\/p>\n

\"\"A family enjoying a daytrip stops to admire one of Isaiah Zagar\u2019s murals on South St. (Photo by Hanbit Kwon \/ for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

Unscripted continuity<\/p>\n

Positioned just below South Street \u2014 a commercial corridor navigating complex cultural tensions and safety<\/a> concerns \u2014 Hawthorne\u2019s quiet stability relies on street-level presence rather than enforcement. Sidewalk anchors like Dinh\u2019s plant table, Lance\u2019s carving cart, and Guzo\u2019s open doors do more than share local craft; they offer an informal, resident-led stewardship that keeps the neighborhood grounded. In a landscape transformed by decades of top-down redevelopment, Hawthorne\u2019s true character remains entirely homemade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Walk without missing a beat<\/p>\n

Start at Broad and South Streets and walk east past Candy Chang\u2019s sidewalk oracle mural, The Atlas of Tomorrow. Continue between 12th and 11th Streets to visit Lance Radcliffe\u2019s carving table near the historic Standard Theatre marker and an Isaiah Zagar mosaic mural. Head south down quiet 11th Street to spot Andy Dinh\u2019s open-air plant garage. Turn west onto Catharine Street for an Ethiopian coffee at Guzo Caf\u00e9, then wrap up at 12th and Catharine in Hawthorne Park \u2014 the neighborhood\u2019s central green backyard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd70 Nice to see you. \ud83e\udd70
(Instead of a paywall)<\/p>\n

Local news should be free and accessible, which is why we ask readers like you to support our work rather than charging a fee to see it. If BP helped inform you, join as a member today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends.\u00a0Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. Spanning 11th to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6189,79593,122281,122282,8384,69,71,70,755,645,27200],"class_list":["post-295698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-community-gardens","tag-city-guide","tag-hawthorne","tag-housing-redevelopment","tag-isaiah-zagar","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-public-art","tag-south-philadelphia","tag-south-street"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}